Apparatus for separating lead and base bullion from slag



2 SheetsSh. et 1. W. B. DEVEREUX. APPARATUS FQR SEPARATING'LEAD AND BASE BULLION FROM SLAG, MATTES, AND SPEISS.

Patented Dec. 17, 1889.

lmmm

@513 GHQ 014013 v m Mr a Nan/ 74.

N. PETERS, Pholohkhognphur. WnhinglombC (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet, 2. W. B. DEVEREUX.

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING LEAD AND BASE BULLION FROM SLAG, MATTES, AND SPEISS.

No. 417,314. Patented Dec. 1'7, 1889..

A lll-lllll I II u. PETERS HwtwLithv-wgnplmr, war-m m n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

\VALTER B. DEVEREUX, OF GL .1N\VOOD SPRINGS, COLORADO.

APPARATUS FOR SEPARATING LEAD AND BASE BULLION FROM SLAG, MATTES, AND SPEISS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 417,314, dated December 1'7, 1889.

' Application filed March 21,1889. Serial no. 304,150. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER B. DEVEREUX, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Glenwood Springs, county of Garfield, and State of Colorado, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Apparatus for Separating Lead and Base Bullion from Sla gs, Mattes, and Speiss, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an apparatus for separating lead and the alloys of silver, gold, and other metals with lead,commonly known as base bullion, from the slags and mattes which are formed in the smelting of the ores of such metals; and the object of the same is to effect the said separation outside of the furnace, while it is still running, in a more convenient manner than has heretofore been possible.

It has heretofore been the practice in smelting silver ores and bullionto make use of a furnace provided with an interior hearth or crucible, into which the bullion, mattes, and slags settle after reduction, and to use in connection therewith some one of the many forms of devices which are in common use for separating out and removing the base bullion or lead while the same is still liquid, and for tapping off the mattes and slags from the furnace, either together or separately. The most usual manner of tapping off bullion is to connect the furnace-crucible with an exterior basin, in which the molten base bullion or lead rises, owing to the static pressure of the, column of liquid material in the furnace hearth, and from which the bullion is removed by means of a ladle as it accumulates. The automatic or so-called siphon tap, which is largely in use throughout the western portion of the United States for this purpose, is too Widely known and used to require description in this connection.

All of the various forms of apparatus heretofore made use of for tapping off the bullion from furnaces are open in practice to very many and serious objections. The principal objection is that in cases where the ores to be smelted contain copper, zinc, baryta, or other impurities accretions are liable to be formed in the crucible, the formation of which is extremely difficult to prevent, and the growth of which causes an eventual stoppage of the furnace before it would otherwise be necessary, owing to the stoppage and chilling of the lead-well and the difficulty of keeping the passage open through the walls of the hearth. The accretions, which are hard tough masses, have to be removed by chiseling, necessitating the furnace being put out of blast and cooled off. Now I have discovered that by tapping at intervals or continuously the fluid contents of the furnace, after smelting into an external receptacle provided with certain agencies in its interior for separating the lead or so-called base bullion from the slags andmattes, and the former from the latter by means of their specific gravity, I am able to effect a much more convenient and economical separation of the lead and base bullion, as well as the mattes, from the slags than has been possible heretofore, and to pre vent also the formation of accretions, and at the same time to effect great economy in furnace construction, for the reason that a furnace can be used in which nearly the entire crucible is eliminated,-and by reason of the separation of the various portions of the smelted mass in a vessel outside of the furnace hearth greater regularity is brought about, thus producing campaigns of much greater length.

The invention will be best understood by reference to the accompanying two sheets of drawings, in which Figures 1 and 2 show an elevation and plan of the apparatus, in which the separation of the lead is effected by a diaphragm made in the form of a lead-well; Figs. 3 and 4:, an elevation and plan of the same apparatus, in which a diaphragm made in the form of a vertical partition-wall with an opening in its base is used instead of the lead-well. Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 show a modification of the mattetap in. connection with the two similar forms of apparatus shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4.

Similar letters refer to si milar parts throughout the various views.

As above stated, the method of operation of the invention. consists, to a certain degree, although not necessarily, in continuously tapping the smelted mass from the furnace into an exterior separating-vessel. To effect such continuous tapping, the furnace-hearth will naturally be eliminated and the furnace-bot- Ice tom placed close up to the fusion-zone. In cases of furnaces already built it is possible to use the invention successfully by filling the bottom with refractory material up to the tap-hole.

In the various views, E is an ordinary shaftfurnace, in which the crucible is dispensed with and the bottom 0 made to incline slightly downward from the back toward the breast. The furnace is provided with the ordinary form of furnace tap-hole and spout F, through which the entire smeltedportion of the chargeis drawn off.

The "essel A, which in my invention is substituted for the furnace-crucible, may be of any convenient dimensions or material; but in practice it will be found convenient to make it out of cast-iron, rectangular in shape, with the sides flaring from bottom to top and the corners rounded off to facilitate dumping. The separation of the lead and base bullion from the other materials tapped into the vessel is effected by means of a diaphragm, which may be made circular in the form of a leadwell Vt, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6,. or in the form of. a vertical partition-wall D, with an opening 0 in the bottom, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, '7, and 8, which may be made movable or permanent, as may be found desirable. In the former case the vessel is divided into two concentric compartments, and in thelatterinto two adjoining compartments, while the effect is in each case the same. The former arrangement will be found in practice .to be most convenient, for the reason that the contents of the inner compartment are kept hot by the heat imparted from the material in the outer compartment. I

If the lead-well is used, it will in practice be made in the form of a cylinder open at the top and bottom. Any method of supporting the lead-well in the receiver may be employed. No particular method of supporting is shown in the drawings, for the reason that in practice the simplest way of supporting the leadwell is to hold it in proper position when the melted mass is first tapped into the receiver, and as soon as the upper crust of slag begins to cool around it and the lead to rise within it it will be found to assume a vertical and practically-fixed position in the receiver. The cross-section of the lead-well need not necessarily be cylindrical. It may be rectangular, elliptical, or even octagonal; but in practice the cylindrical form will be found to be preferable. In this way the receiver is divided into two compartments 0. and (1., the latter within the former.

In place of the lead-well a partition-wall D may be used in the receiver attached in any desired manner, provided with an opening 0 at its bottom, as shown in Figs. 3,4, '7, and 8, thus dividing the receiver, as before, into two compartments a and a, connected at the bottom. Any other device may be used that will divide the receiver into two compart;

ments of any desired dimensions, one of which\ can serve as a compartment for the collection of the lead.

For the purpose of permitting the tapping olf of the mattes as they accumulate in the principal compartment a the devices are employed which are shown in the views.

In Figs. 1, 2, and 3 a vertical or inclined web, diaphragm, or dam H is provided in the bottom of the receiver, com posed of iron, firebrick, or other material, which extends entirely across the same from one side to the other, and which may be permanent or movable, as may be foundconvenient. This web or dam is of a height greater than that of the opening 0 in the partition-wall D, and, in case the lead-well is used, is of a height slightly greater than the vertical distance between the bottom of the lead-well and the bottom of the pot. For this reason no lead can flow over the same when the lead in the compartment a is kept ataproper level. An opening 0 is provided in the extreme base of the end wall of the receiver opposite to the web H, which opening permits of the discharge of all of the contents of the pots except such portion as is held back by the web or diaphragm H, which serves as a dam and keeps back all the lead and bullion except the small portion which has settled at the left-hand side of the dam in Figs. 1 and 2 and the right-hand side in Fig. 3, which will run out with the matte and form a button easily separated in the vessel into which the Instead of the web or diaphragm H, the devices shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 may be employed. In this arrangement the receiver is so constructed that the bottom shall be of two different levels N and N, the connections between these levels being made by the vertical or inclined surface or step H. The lead accumulates in the lower level N of the receiver, and is kept from flowing over the top of the step II by removal from time to time from the compartment (1., and the mattes settle to the upper level N of the bottom above the lead. The opening 0 is placed in the bottom of the end walls at the point where it joins the upper level of the bottom, and the step II serves as a dam in the same manner as the web or dam II, and holds back the lead and prevents it from flowing out with the matte when the latter is tapped through the opening 0. This opening is closed in the same manner as before. In each form of apparatus a slag-spout f is provided at the upper edge of the pot, through which the slag, being the lightest portion of the material tapped from the furnace, flows ofi continuously into any desired receptacle.

The method of separation effected by such an apparatus is as follows: In the smeltiugof lead ores, as is well known, the various products and byproducts of the furnace differ in specific gravity. The lead and base bullion as they issue from the furnace are slightly heavier than the mattes, speiss, and slags which flow out with them, and will consequently settle to the bottom of any vessel in which all of the furnace products are collected while 7 molten, allowing the mattes, speiss, and slags to float on the top of the lead. \Vhere the entire contents of the furnace-crucible are tapped into one compartment of a vessel divided into two compart ments which are connected atthe bottom, the lead, as it settles to the bottom of the compartment into which the mass is tapped, will fiow through the opening between the compartments int-o the other compartment, and will rise in that compartment in proportion as the static pressure of the liquid in the first compartment increases. The slag, mattes, and speiss, although lighter than the lead, and being also liquid, will keep the static pressure of the column of liquid in the two compart ments practically constant, while the slag, being light-er than the mattes and speiss, will form the top of the mass, and the top layer of the same will cool rapidly and form a crust, which answers all the purposes of a cqver to the receiver.

The efiiect of the insertion of a lead-well or a partition-wall with an opening in its bottom into the receiver described is to divide the latter into two compartments which are connected with each other through the open bottom of the lead-well or the opening in the partition-wall. \Vhen the melted material from the furnace, consisting of slag, mattes, speiss, and bullion, or either of them, is allowed to run, theyimmediately assume positions in the receiver in accordance with their relative specific gravity, the lead or bullion forming the lowest layer. As the lead or bullion accumulates in the receiver, it rises in the lead-well or in the compartment 0. back of the partition-wall to a certain height, which is dependent upon the static pressure of the material in the principal compartment a of the receiver. The lead may be dipped from compartment with a ladle, from time to time, as fast as it accumulates,- it being necessary to leave only the layer of lead or bullion in the principal compartment CL of suifieient depth to seal the entrance into the lead-well or the compartment .a, as otherwise the mattes or speiss, which float directly on top of the lead or bullion in the compartment a, would enter the compartment a, thereby causing great trouble and inconvenience. \Vhen a sufficient amount of mattes or speiss has accumulated in the compartment a, the tap-hole in the bottom or the end wall of the receiver is opened and the mattes and speiss allowed to run out until all the mattes and speiss above the web or diaphragm H, or the step H, have run off and slag commences to flow, whereupon the orifice immediately closed and the contents of the furnace allowed to collect in the receiver, as before, until such time as the operation is repeated. li y this means the matte is obtained in a comparatively pure condition and suitable for subsequent treatment. It by any means, or if owing to any neglect, lead or bullion is drawn out of this tap-hole, or slag is allowed to run out with the matte, the former, after cooling, can easily be separated from the bottom of the matte and the latter can be broken off from the top of the matte. The slag which occupies the upper portion of the receiver runs over through the spout provided for the purpose into the slag-buggy andis carried away. The object of this invention is to carry out a threefold separation in the compartment to, by means of which lead and bullion, matte and speiss, and slag are obtained in a. com- 319,791, in which certain things shown in Figs. 5, 6, 7, and 8 of this patent are described and claimed, I therefore disclaim the subjecematter of the claims of said applications so far as the present patent is concerned; and

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with an exterior receiving or collecting vessel into which the contents of the smelting-furnace are tapped, of a diaphragm placed therein having an opening in its base, whereby the vessel is divided into two compartments, a partition or dam rising from the bottom of said receiving or collecting vessel and extending across the collectingcompartment for preventing. the outflow of the lead, and an opening at or near the bottom of said vessel on the opposite side of the partition or dam from the diaphragm, where by the mattes and speiss may be tapped off as they accumulate.

2. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with an exterior receiving or collecting vessel into which the contents of the smelting-furnace are tapped, of a diaphragm placed therein having an opening 111 its base, whereby the vessel is divided into two compartments, a partition or dam rising from the bottom of said receiving or collecting vessel and extending across the collectingcompartment for preventing the outfilow of the lead, an opening at or near the bottom of said vessel on the opposite side of the partition or dam from the diaphragm, whereby the mattes and speiss may be tapped off as they accumulate, and means for closing said opening, substantially as described.

3. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with an exterior receiving or collecting vessel into which the contents of the smelting-furnace discharge, of a diaphragm placed in said vessel having an opening in its base, whereby the vessel is divided into two compartments, a partition or dam rising from the bottom of said receiving or collecting vessel and extending across the collecting-compartment for preventing the outflow of the lead, an opening at or near the bottom of said vessel on the opposite side of the partition or dam from the diaphragm, whereby the mattes and speiss may be tapped off as they accumulate, and an overflow-spout for the slag at the upper edge of the receiving or collecting vessel.

4. The combination, substantially as hereinbefore set forth, with an exterior receiving or collecting "essel into which the contents of the smelting-furnace are tapped, of a lead- W611 placed therein having an opening in its base, whereby the receiving or collecting vessel is divided into two compartments, a partition or dam rising from the bottom of said receiving or collecting vessel and extending across the collecting-conipartment for preventing the outflow of the lead, and an opening at or near the bottom of said receiving or collecting vessel on the opposite side of the partition or dam from the lead-Well, whereby the inattes and speiss. may be tapped off as they accumulate.

5. The combination, substal'itially as hereinbefore set forth, With an exterior receiving or collecting vessel into which the contents of the smelting-furnace are tapped, of a lead- Well placed therein having an opening at its base, whereby the receiving or collecting vessel is divided into two compartments, a partition or dam rising from the bottom of said receiving or collecting vessel and extending across the collecting-compartment for preventing the outflow of the lead and opening at or near the bottom of said receiving or collecting vessel on the opposite side of the partition or dam from the lead-well, whereby the mattes and speiss may be tapped off as they accumulate, and means for closing said opening, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname, in presence of tWo Witnesses, this 22d day of February, 1889.

WALTER B. DEVER-EUX.

\Vitnesses:

A. S. CECILSPENCE, THOMAS HoRNs'rEIN. 

